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Friday, January 18, 2013

Crankytown, an interactive site about periods that features videos, stories and poems from artists such as Feist, Emma Thompson, Jessica Paré and Karine Vanasse, has expanded to include Crankyfest – an online contest for videos about periods. The project was created by Canadian actors Liane Balaban and Vanessa Matsui, and costume designer Jenna Wright, who have partnered with iThentic, Playback’s Digital Company of the Year. The contest launches on January 17th with a submission deadline of March 1, 2013.
“It’s an exciting time for women in the world right now – and Crankyfest is part of the wave of men and women saying ‘enough.’ Enough objectification. Enough violence. Enough of this limited portrayal of the female experience in massmedia. Women are people, and they have stories. And there happen to be a ton of incredible ones about periods. Now with Crankytown and Crankyfest, there is a designated place to share those experiences, and your vision as a filmmaker,” said Liane Balaban.

Crankyfest’s international jury is comprised of industry experts Meaghan Rath (Being Human), Jane Grenier (Conde Nast/Teen Vogue) and Rachelle Lefevre (Twilight). There are both jury and audience awards, which include a prize pack filled with filmmaking tools and a weekender bag from Everlane.com. The launch event for Crankyfest will feature a live auction of an Everlane backpack with proceeds going to Huru International, a charity that provides sanitary pads to at-risk-girls in Kenya. Crankytown will also premiere four celeb first period stories, including Jessica Paré (Mad Men) and Ryan Cartwright, (Alphas, Mad Men).

“Think about it. Period stories are a no-brainer: There’s blood, there’s surprise, there’s drama. And more often than not, a whole lot of comedy,” said Vanessa Matsui.

Applicable films can be from any genre, must be three minutes or less in length, and must take periods as their subject matter. Crankytown’s own videos serve as inspiration (playlist below).

About Crankytown
Crankytown is a 2011 Gemini-nominated web site about menstruation, featuring videos, stories, poems, and animation about periods. Crankytown has been featured on Q with Jian Ghomeshi, The Grid, She Does the City, Thefrisky.com, The Toronto Star, and Bust Magazine.

About iThentic
iThentic is an online video destination site, launched in 2006, that aggregates, produces and distributes the very best video content. The company is headquartered in Toronto with offices in New York City and is a leading producer of web series, including recent Rockie Award winner Guidestones. It was recently named the 2012 Digital Company of the Year by Playback Magazine. Smiley Guy Studios, an award winning animation and new mediastudio, is the operating partner with Jonas Diamond as CEO and Catherine Tait as Chair of the company.